Marietta Square – Whitlock Avenue – WhitlockAvenue.com

Wow. What type of activity would signal gang activity in Marietta? Gone are the days of brass knuckles and red bandanas on their heads. According to the Cobb Anti-Gang Enforcement (CAGE) team’s display at the Marietta High School last week, the signals these days are a lot more subtle than days of old, shockingly subtle in fact. Be sure to read the article below from the AJC.com about the recent presentation from the Cobb Anti-Gang Enforcement group at Marietta High School.

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It was regular clothing and ordinary notebooks and caps that teen gang members use to identify themselves. Except for the brass knuckles, the display by law enforcement officials looked pretty innocent.But members of the county police force’s Cobb Anti-Gang Enforcement (CAGE) unit warn that these items, confiscated from gang members, signal trouble. Unless your child’s initials happen to be RSL, those initials on a belt buckle could mark your offspring as a gang member.There were also pictures on the display table, one of a young boy with the tail end of his canvas belt hanging well below his knees. The longer the belt, the more serious criminal offenses the gang member has committed, police explained. “This one’s dangerous,” said Sgt. Stanley Wheeler of Cobb’s CAGE unit.Gang members are wily enough to change their signals, Wheeler said. Gang members now tuck the long end into their belt loops so the identifier won’t be so obvious.It’s easy to confuse teen pop culture fads with signals of gang involvement. “You have to look at the whole picture,” said Sgt. Mike Hathaway of the Marietta Police Department, who led off the presentation.Certain hand signals, patterns of behavior, drawings or clothing preferences could be tips that a teenager is associated with or being recruited by a gang, the officers said.Aileen Wood and her husband were looking over the exhibits prior to the 45-minute presentation. “It’s shocking. It all looks so innocent,” said Wood, a Marietta resident whose son, Jeffrey Wood, serves on the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission, an event sponsor.”This will open your eyes like you wouldn’t believe,” Wood said. “More parents need to see this.”The turnout for the seventh and last in a series this year of gang awareness presentations in Cobb’s school districts drew more than 100 parents and community members, the largest crowd so far as schools, police and neighborhood groups work to heighten gang awareness in the community. Wheeler said there were 37 gangs active in Cobb. Since its inception three years ago, Cobb’s CAGE unit has identified 53 gangs, he said.Help from parents and community members is needed to reduce increasing gang criminal activity. Education is key, said JoAnn Birrell, chair of the Neighborhood Safety Commission